I met Nancy Pelosi a lot in '06 (lady campaigned HARD to be Speaker) and that is one put together woman. Not a hair out of place.

A friend of mine's mother is the Italian Tibet correspondent and she's met him several times. Seems he is as awesome in person as he is in the media. Too bad China is governed by a bunch of douches . . .

Matching scarves!

what am i supposed to say? he looks lama-ish and she looks constipated.

Is it possible that we could see the His Holiness returning to his homeland? The world has to stand firmly behind the Tibetan people now. This is a moment that may not come again. Free Tibet!!

I love how they both have yellow scarves on. It's very National Honor Society of them.

so THERE'S where my celery-colored powersuit went.

well, i was boycotting the beijing olympics before the tibet crackdown because of china's stance on burma, but hey, the more people who seek to compel china to behave like human beings, the merrier.

@topsy: Ain't gonna happen, at least not in our lifetimes.

This picture officially makes my day. Isn't it a big deal when heads of state meet with the Dalai Lama? China is such an economic presence that most politicians are wary of an "official" meeting with him in that it might piss off the People's Republic. So I give the Speaker to big thumbs up. With all the shit that's going down in Tibet I think this is a pretty awesome move.

Something about him makes me want to squeeeeeeze him with all my might in a big hug... He must have given her that scarf, yes?

so cute of them walking around holding hands!
i guess it's official now that they're going steady.

also, the time to stop the chinese in tibet is NOW. the dalai lama is in his 60's and the panchen lama is in the hands of the evil chinese, who seek to control the discovery of the next dalai lama-- they find each other's next incarnation.

from wiki

Following the unexpected death of the 10th Panchen Lama in 1989, the search for his reincarnation quickly became mired in political controversy. Chadrel Rinpoche, the head of the search committee, was able to secretly communicate with the Dalai Lama. However, after the Dalai Lama announced Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the new Panchen Lama, Chinese authorities arrested Chadrel Rinpoche, who was replaced with Sengchen Lobsang Gyaltsen. Sengchen had been a political opponent of the previous Panchen Lama. The new search committee decided to ignore the Dalai Lama's announcement and choose the Panchen Lama from a list of finalists, which did not include Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, by drawing lots from the Golden Urn. Gyaltsen Norbu was announced as the search committee's choice on November 11, 1995.

The whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima are unknown. The Government of Tibet in Exile claims that he and his family continue to be political prisoners, and has termed him the "youngest political prisoner in the world". The Chinese government claims that he is attending school and leading a normal life somewhere in China, and that his whereabouts are kept undisclosed to protect him.[4]

@topsy: In a perfect world... There are too many commercial interests in the Bejing Olympics for anyone with real power to speak up though.
I signed this: [www.avaaz.org] but I feel a bit... too small to make a difference.

@haguenite: people power, people! the americans boycotted the olympics over the russian invasion of afghanistan!

@charlotte corday: You can add their stance on the Sudan and their own gross HR violations to the reason's I am boycotting the Olympics.
I think it is a shame that San Diego is a stop on the Olympic Torch relay.

@LinaLamont: well, bang out a sign to let people know how you feel and line the route!

@LinaLamont: San Francisco -- which makes this Pelosi meeting oh-so-much more awesome. She's got balls. Compared her comments on Tibet/China today to lame mumblings those of Condi Rice.

Good for her for making this meeting happen. And this actually seems genuine, not like when W met with him and talked about peace.

@charlotte corday: Yeah, but that bint Dana Perrino said yesterday that Bush wouldn't boycott. She stopped just short of calling Carter a pinko for boycotting the 1980 Olympics in the first place (ironic, no?).

@charlotte corday: I would if I didnt live in NY!

I'm so glad that my mother will be covering the Games from Hong Kong rather than Beijing, things may get a little ugly. Thank God the Chinese are afraid the horses will bring diease to the mainland! (never thought that was a sentence I would ever write).

@3cardkitty: Oops! I dont know why but I always get those two cities confused, stupid on my part.

@hfree: i think i just fell in love with you-- "bint" is my favourite description for any of the bush spokesblondes.

and your mum's covering the eventing?! so. jealous.

@LinaLamont: oh, sorry, i thought you were in san diego!

@charlotte corday: is there a chance for a US boycott of the games? it seems like the opportune time for us to make a statement without losing too much in terms of trade or whatever we are afraid of.

wow, everyone's all serious and political and i could only think of constipation.

@ghanima: it is a big deal. Love the DL. He's going to be in my town soon, and it's always fun to see the turnout for him.

@J.D.Regent: well, i heavily doubt it. bush is the textbook definition of a paper tiger, and really, who cares about those pesky buddhists?

i've signed petitions, etc., but i'm going to start telling the advertisers like nike that i won't be buying their products or watching the games.

@J.D.Regent: I doubt it. Not this president. But we can be effective if our athletes stage lots of protests while they're there (like Free Tibet t-shirts under their Olympic jackets...)

@J.D.Regent: Since China is pretty much financing the war in Iraq and floating the US economy right now, I'd say the chances of a boycott of Christmas are better.

I have been obsessed with Tibet for the past week. Man I wish the U.S. would boycott the Olympics. Also some of the blog posts on the internet about this "situation" are just terrible, the CCP has its hacks out in force people, its frightening. Go Nancy!

@charlotte corday: My people power won't make athletes change their horrible sense of entitlement though. The "I trained for this, I should be allowed to do this, and by the way, sports=/=politics"-stance. Or is that just something Dutch athletes do...?

Our PM has already said he doesn't want a boycott and the Crown Prince, who is on the board of the national Olympic committee is keeping his mouth shut. *sigh*

I agree that this would be serious if the Dalai Lama didn't look so much like my grandpa. I'm having visions of him puttering around the raspberry canes in his back yard.

And I'm boycotting (televisually) the games this year, and trying to shame everyone else into doing it to. How the hell did it come to this in the first place?

@brendastarlet: You have no idea how much I would LOVE to see that!

@thevagrantweed: Man, I'm feeling preachy. But it came to this because the West developed and insatiable demand for cheap consumer goods in tandem with China's thirst for foreign investment and willingness to exploit its labor market and BAM -- here we are. Until this week, everyone was living under the notion that China had changed -- it's got Armani and Porches and big fancy buildings. It also still has the exact same people -- not just the same repressive government, but the same personalities -- in charge as when it shot down its own students in 1989. The current president of China was the governor of Tibet. The difference between now and 89 is the West (US) cannot walk away from China because it has dumped billions into this country and wants to keep making a profit.

I'm now waiting for Jezebel to get blocked.

Also, more effective than an Olympics boycott would be a boycott of cheap Chinese made products.

I really can't even be bothered to care about the fucking Olympics in general, regardless of season or setting. I suppose this time it will have to matter, because it does, of course. I realize that makes me a bit of a prick, but...I only have so much expendable energy.

@3cardkitty: I've been trying to do that for awhile, but my God it is unbelievable how much crap is made over there. And thanks for the short history. I read the Economist, but hey, sometimes my brain just can't absorb all the geo-political mumbo jumbo.

@charlotte corday: Thank you for including the story of the Panchen Lama. The kidnapping and possible murder (I wouldn't put a thing past the Chinese government) is a crime against humanity and China should be held accountable. Ever since I read a New Yorker article about him, I have been haunted by thoughts of that poor little boy and his family. What China is doing in Tibet is genocide, pure and simple. Fuck the Olympics! I'm currently reading a book called Nazi Games about the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the parallels are frightening. We cannot validate a genocidal regime's existence again.

she seems like she really does her own thing - she's not letting anyone boss her around. i dig her.

@ hortense - the scarves are actually very common in northern india, particularly when you're visiting holy sites. in punjabi (not sure about other states in india), they are called saropas. they are given to an array of people - distinguished guests, newly married couples, heck if you ask for one as a blessing...they'll give them to you. think of it like the blessing they distribute at mass, etc...except it's on your neck.

and on a side note, i'm pretty flexible about most things, but research items you post before you make comments about them. it just makes you seem ignorant...when that really wasn't the intension.

aaaw matching yellows! are we in Pop Fiction?

Phone conversation that morning:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: Hey Dolly!
His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama: Dalai. Dalai Lama. But you should call me "His Holiness."
SOTHNP: Right. Dalai. Anyway, I was thinking, there are going to be tons of paparazzos when we meet for brunch today--
HHTFDL: Brunch?
SOTHNP: You know, like lunch, but with bacon and eggs?
HHTFDL: I abstain from food that delights the senses. I consume only water and unprocessed grains.
SOTHNP: Oooh, South Beach?
HHTFDL: No, transcendence.
SOTHNP: Sounds good, I'll have to get the book. Anyway, I was thinking, we should probably match our outfits for the photog--
HHTDFL: Outfit? I have worn the same robes every day for the 27 billion years of my everlasting life, in multiple reincarnations, including that of a daffodil
SOTHNP: Oh, so you do the classics. I see. Well, daffodil it is! I'll break out my marigold scarf.

my bf is obsessed with the olympics. he applied to be a torchbearer and was surprisingly, a finalist. however, he's been doing research on the human rights abuses, and hearing rumblings of egg-chucking in san francisco, so now he's reconsidering. it's sad that such a wonderful event has such a dark cast over it this year.

side note: hillary should take fashion notes from nancy

@Sonadelite: i think her intention was...to make a joke about honor society.

@brendastarlet: I too <3 the Dalai Lama. How can I find out when he will be in a particular city? If he had a Popemobile I'd so make like the Catholics of the world and camp out to watch him bounce around in it.

@3cardkitty: I agree, but since that's pretty impossible, I prefer to just buy as little as I can get away with buying. Having a freaking small apartment really helps with that, too.

@sugartitties: uhhhh...

[speaker.house.gov]

...y'know, he looks kinda like John Howard.

I met him once - I found him to be very charismatic and oddly hot. I cannot say the same for John Howard.

@whynotshesaid: @thevagrantweed: I know I'm preaching to the choir here and I apologize if I was snippy. I get so frustrated with people who just now are starting to realize that the Chinese government are authoritarian assholes. They always have been, it's just that the west was so excited about buying cheaper/more shoes, clothes, toys, etc., we kind of ignored that fact for a decade or so. And now, the Chi government are RICH authoritarian assholes and they're likely to stay put for a very long time. But all that said, bring on the Olympics shitstorm. Couldn't happen to a more-deserving government.

@crazylazy: "side note: hillary should take fashion notes from nancy"

Alas, Nancy has what we all should have- a bajillionaire husband who does her shopping for her. Hillary probably wouldn't trust her husband to be left alone in a women's clothing store.